1st gig...at 54 years old

[David Jayne]

Thanks for putting a huge smile on my face. I think your post is loaded with awesomeness.

First, your kids WANT you to play in a band with them . It doesn't get any cooler than that. .....

.

+1 to all of Joe's post but this part in particular. You are very, very fortunate. And so are your kids. Enjoy, soak it up. It won't last forever.

 

[Bodeanly]

This is amazing. I can't get my kid to put down video games long enough to pick up his guitar. I'd wish you luck, but you're already there.

 

[Bajo Clarkko]

Congrats ! Never too old to start gigging.
Definitely invite your friends. If you nail it (and I'm sure you will) your friends will be there to enjoy the occasion with you. If you hit a clunker or two, your friends will be there to buy you a consolation brew. Either way, you win!

 

[BEADG63]

 

[rtslinger]

That is great just enjoy yourself and as most of mention playing in a band with your kids has got to be a awesome feeling! My oldest guy played drums in the high school orchestra, but never did anything after that and my other two do not play any instruments at all. , but they are fans and come out to my shows.
Have a great gig.

 

[mat666]

Last week, my son told me that his band was asked to open up a show at a downtown Raleigh bar in early November. His band is on hiatus at this time, so he asked if he could perform using a project band.
My youngest son is the drummer in his band, so he'll use him for his project work.

He surprised the hell out of me by asking if I would play bass that night. It's a great opportunity for me to play live with my two sons. Since the songs he's using for the set are all new, I have to start from scratch and have a month to learn everything.

I'm just a hack on bass, but I really enjoy playing along to my favorite music in our jam room. Really, the only reason I started buying instruments 8 years ago was to see if my kids would get into music. They have, and I've happily become their roadie and ATM machine.

I'm a bit nervous about the gig, because here's my live/stage resume: 1 song - in front of the cleaning crew after a church variety show. 6 people folding chairs & tables and throwing away tablecloths, ignoring the band on-stage covering a song they've never heard before.

Anyway, I'm pretty excited...and nervous - I'm not one for being in the spotlight. The comforting piece of all this is that my kids wanted to do this as a 3-piece, and I'll feel a bit more secure knowing they are just a few feet away. I'm really proud of these two, and I'm going to try to practice as much as I can so I don't let them down.

We've had a brief rehearsal of 4 songs and I've recorded it and uploaded it to listen whenever I'm at work (like tonight). We also wrote down song structure and transcribed notes so I can practice on my own.

Anyway, if my nerves don't cause me to spontaneously combust beforehand, then this should be fun.
Just thought I'd share this -
-Steve

Very nice!! Enjoy every seconds you're having playing with them. Those are memories you'll keep forever and a blessing to be able to gig with your kids.
Don't be nervous, it can't be worst than the first weeks of being a father ;-)

 

[dheafey]

So cool! The nervousness will fade once you get grooving. Trust in your preparation and you will be fine. You are creating a memory that will last a lifetime for both you and your boys.

 

[pbassjbass]

Enjoy, and be sure you practice with a metronome or drum machine. For me the first issue when I get nervous is time so drilling the tempos helps.

 

[iriegnome]

I didn't see in the OP about how long the gig would be. Learning 18 or so songs in a month or even learning the charts in that long should be a breeze. OP has been on here for almost 10 years, so probably not as much of a hack as he thinks. Enjoy a gig with your kids. I have gotten the honor to play bass for a couple of my kids on several occassions. I so much enjoyed it. Wish I could do it again.
Have fun with it. Don't sweat mistakes and laugh as much as you can.

 

[engedi1]

Welcome to team bass! Have a good time and don't sweat it.

 

[bassbully]

Awesome! Have a blast. Try to relax its just music nobody will get hurt. I learned years ago if your a little nervous turn sideways to the band and look and play to them. Keep eye contact when possible and smile.

 

[Bassmann79]

if you get nervous, just think about the fact that nobody pays attention to what notes the bass player is playing. I saw a similar situation at a fair this summer, they went over great.

lol..what? Nobody pays attention to the bass? Wow, only on TB

 

[jmbjandfam]

Awesome.... When and where is the show.... would love to see you guys play!

 

[MatronMother]

This is what music is all about. If your still nervous the day of then that just means you care. Wish you and your family all the best.

 

[ack]

Wow! I'm humbled by all the kind responses, well-wishers and tips. Thanks to all - there is some real sound and soothing advice and some great stories in this thread. It's been a great read.

To answer a few questions, we get an hour to play. My oldest son (22) is a self-taught guitarist/bassist who's had a few years of vocal lessons under his belt. He plays in a couple Raleigh area bands, including a bass-only gig in a Sabbath tribute band. He's writing more of a Prog/Rock type set. My other guy is 17 and sticks strictly to drums. We've had him in drum lessons since he was 11, and he's quite a little time-keeper. He's into the heavier stuff and he should be easy to lock onto (keyword=should).

A few folks mentioned that they've played with their kids or relatives on stage. I can't wait to experience that. I will certainly take a few deep breaths and look around a lot (when I'm not staring at the 'ol fretboard).

It's funny, but I have 3 brothers and we grew up pretty athletic. I still play hockey a few days a week and ride motocross when I have the chance. When my wife and I had boys (well, she did most of the work there), I thought for certain that they'd just naturally just pick up and start playing sports. Nope. Nada. They couldn't care less, which is fine. I'm glad we never pushed them to play organized sports and spent the money on gear. That's an investment that will never stop paying dividends.

Anyway, thanks again. I hesitated creating this thread - I don't post that often, but I'm really glad I did. I'm sure if I hit a roadblock, I can come here and ask a few questions - you guys seem to have a good grasp on what I'm facing...

-Cheers!
Steve

 

[ack]

The date isn't set yet, but it's supposed to be a Wed or Thurs night in November (quite possibly the 12th) at a bar called "Deep South" in Raleigh.
When it gets finalized and published on their site, I'll copy/paste in the link.

 

[geoff_in_nc]

I'll come if I can. Steve, don't know if you recall, but I borrowed a Peavey Axcelerator 5 from you for a day a little over a year ago, and fell in love with them - my main bass now. I'd love to come out to support you all.

 

[ack]

I'll come if I can. Steve, don't know if you recall, but I borrowed a Peavey Axcelerator 5 from you for a day a little over a year ago, and fell in love with them - my main bass now. I'd love to come out to support you all.

Hey Geoff - yeah, I remember that. Good to hear from you and glad you found one you like - they're great basses.
I might be playing the Sarzo for this show. Would be cool to hang out a bit.

 

[frsbdg]

We're of similar age, and a similar situation. Am in my first "band," and we've yet to play an actual gig of our own. Here's what we're doing in the meantime that might help: go play at an open mic night. There are at least three places in our town that have open mics, and each one gives 15 minutes or 3 songs to each performer/group. Before playing the first one, I was very nervous - just like you seem to be. So here's what I did: looked at the other guys in the band a lot, as they were friendly faces. It made the stage feel like our rehearsal space.

Now that we've played four open mics, I feel much more relaxed on stage. Have even gone to some blues jams and jumped in on songs I've never played (or even heard) before. By the time we get our set list of 30-40 songs together, we will have played them all in front of an audience at least once, and will have been on stage at least a dozen times. Even though you don't have all that much time, you should be able to squeeze in a couple open mic performances, and those should go a long way to calming your nerves.

Good luck!

 

[dalkowski]

File under "living the dream."

I have two awesome sons, 16 & 14, but only the youngest is into playing music but isn't in a lather about it like I was at 14. I like to joke that their relative indifference to playing music is their form of rebellion against me.